Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Trip Planning Forum :: Packing meals
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GearJunkie |
boonie: "GearJunkie: "I’m going to experiment with repackaging mountain house meals this time for space reasons. Vacuum seal them in smaller bags and then use my pot to rehydrate." My concern was about humidity ruining the food if I dont eat them within a day or so. Sounds like my concern is not a thing! Thanks for the advice. Will just rebag them the day before I leave. |
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SummerSkin |
We take in the following sides to go along with our fish dinners. (I guess we could just eat these sides if we don't get fish, but that's never been a problem.) Instant refried beans Instant mashed potatoes And maybe a few Knorr rice / pasta sides as well. The above make for a five-star backcountry dinner. One word on the Mountain House meals -- some of our crew brought them in for beakfasts / lunches and found that one bag was way too much for an individual to consume in a single sitting. Also, the Mountain House meals are very bulky in your pack. If you do Mountain House (or similar) you might want to consider splitting / sharing them with another trip member. |
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Mad_Angler |
A1t2o: "... It says that it is a meal for 2 people. Really, it is nearly ideal for one person. They are super convenient. Boil water and put in bag. Let bag sit 10 minutes while getting fire ready or other camp chores. Eat dinner from bag. Throw away bag. With that said, we hardly ever take real freeze dried meals. You can find so much at a normal grocery store. Just look at all the rice, noodle, and potato options that just need some boiling water and maybe some oil. You can add pouches of chicken to get some protein. |
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Cc26 |
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tphanson |
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bhouse46 |
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dele |
Better options I have found that can provide more food for a more reasonable price include: - dehydrated refried beans (available in bulk at food co-ops and other such stores). Great with some tortillas, cheese, and hot sauce. Also a good side dish with fresh fish. - Zatarian's or similar brand jambalaya mix or other stew mixes. These take a little longer to cook than the freeze dried meals, but they are very tasty and filling, and only cost a couple bucks for a box that easily feeds hungry 2-3 people. Add some chunks of fresh fish near the end of the simmer time to make it even better and a more complete meal. - Bear Creek, etc. soup mixes. Flavorful and also a great thing to add fresh fish to if you don't feel like frying. We also bring a bag of dehydrated vegetables (also available in bulk at co-ops) and add them to just about every meal we make. They help stretch the food, add flavor, and are a good way to keep vegetables in your diet when camping. |
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mapsguy1955 |
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Captn Tony |
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billconner |
Captn Tony: "I've found that just going to Hy-Vee or Aldies is way less expensive for a lot more food. They have everything you would need for meals." Same here - Trader Joes/Walmart/other supermarkets - but good things between pasta and rice sides, many potato options (found a just boil and cool potato salad in an envelope at Walmart), stove top dressings, and more. Anyones pizza dough mix makes good frypan bread. Some great hearty soups. Look around and you dont have to get sodium plus. And of course hungry jack hash browns. Dehydrate some meat or use summer sausage (in Zatarains beans and rice) or foil pack tuna, salmon, or chicken. Some dehydrated mushrom, onions, and peppers along with condimnts in packets from truck stops, fast food, or Packit Gourmet. Half the price and better tasting imho. Now, I havent found guacamole other than in freeze dried at REI so splurged on that to go with quesadillas, refries, (just dehydrated seveeal cans - enough for 2 for 69 cents), and rice. I do gave a fondness for vegetables so got a bunch of corn, peas, green beans, and asparagus. |
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billconner |
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mastertangler |
Do not get Kraft instant mac and cheese from the grocery store. I'm not fussy and I found it inedible. Mountain house pasta primavera makes an excellent side dish to fish. The granola with milk and blueberries is fairly awesome. |
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lundojam |
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analyzer |
Depending on how active you are at home, you may spend more energy in the boundary waters. I normally eat 1 good size meal at home, but usually 2 in the boundary waters. I just seem to be hungrier up there. So what does your username mean? If that was on a license plate, I would be scratching my head. |
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GearJunkie |
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OldFingers57 |
GearJunkie: "I’m going to experiment with repackaging mountain house meals this time for space reasons. Vacuum seal them in smaller bags and then use my pot to rehydrate." A lot of backpacker just put them in a ziplock bag as vac sealing them again makes the bag hard and more difficult to pack. Putting them in the ziplocks right before you go on your trip they will be fine in the ziplock bags. In fact backpackers doing the PCT and AT do this several weeks in advance and mail their resupplies off. |
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boonie |
GearJunkie: "I’m going to experiment with repackaging mountain house meals this time for space reasons. Vacuum seal them in smaller bags and then use my pot to rehydrate." If you're doing it for space reasons, you'll be better off not vacuum packing them. I used to take the Mountain House ProPacks that were vacuum packed. That was like packing a bunch of baseballs with a lot of dead air space vs. just in bags so that they conform and you can pack more in the same space. |
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Spartan2 |
Personally, if I had the time and energy, I usually found that most of the meals were better if you cooked them just a few minutes on the stove or the fire, rather than just hydrating in the bag. It made a pan to clean up, but it made a better meal. And if I was adding rice or pasta, I would cook that first, and then add the fd meal once it was cooked (figuring out the water to be the correct amount, then cook it down to the right consistency). If that makes any sense. We had the additional problem of needing low-sodium items, and when Spartan1 was on the kidney diet for 16 years, in addition to that we were having to limit protein and potassium as well. It sometimes got very complicated, but by shopping online at Mountain House, AlpineAire, Packit Gourmet (LOVE their strawberry cheescake! and fd fruits), and Backpacker's Pantry, I was able to come up with a variety of good choices. Supplemented, of course, by grocery store fare. After the kidney transplant, things became much easier as far as planning meals was concerned. But by then we were getting old, so we weren't going out for as long, weren't going nearly as far in a day, and we didn't need to eat as much either. |
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BuckFlicks |
My favorite meals are beef stroganoff, shepherd's pie, and spaghetti with meat sauce. It's been a while since I've bought new meals, so I don't know what newer offerings are. Another of our favorite camp meals is to buy a few foil packs of cooked chicken, some taco seasoning, and flour tortillas... chicken tacos are easy to make and are a pretty delicious camp meal. |
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bwcadan |
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boonie |
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scramble4a5 |
Sometimes for breakfast we eat the Mountain House breakfast granola with blueberries. Easy, just add water. |
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schweady |
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Ausable |
Mt. House beef stroganoff is pretty good. I also try to supplement entrees with vegetables. |
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A1t2o |
Ausable: " I have found that the portion sizes are pretty accurate for our groups." It says it is only 260 calories per serving. Is this supposed to be only a side dish or what? I would expect more than that for dinner. |
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nofish |
I usually bring a Mountain House or 2 as a "just in case" meal. You never know when you might need it. You could get wind bound on your last day leaving you stuck and in need of an extra days food. Or you may end up having one of your trip partners knock over the entire pot of fish chowder that was minutes away from being ready completely wasting the entire meal (yep thats happened). |
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Bumstead |
2 pkgs mac n' cheese / 2 pkgs real bacon bits 1 lbs. whole wheat pasta / 1 or 2 pkgs (bags) Pepperoni / a little Olive oil / small can of Parmesan cheese. I've never bought the mountain house or other brands of pre-mades. Is the $8.50 for 2 or 4 servinings? Because both the meals I mention above can be put together for that amount or less and are very filling for 4 guys. |
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boonie |
One of the things I like about them is that the single serving meals are usually 500-600 calories, give or take a little (doubles usually twice as much). I use them as a full meal. You would have to order these online - I don't think there are any retail outlets - so keep that in mind. Most of them are also lower in sodium, preservatives, etc. The problem with any brand (or restaurant for that matter) is that you're not going to like every meal on the menu. There are some from each of those providers that I like and some I'm not too crazy about, although I've never found one I couldn't finish, but YMMV. |
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A1t2o |
boonie: "Personally, I usually take stuff from Outdoor Herbivore and Hawk Vittles . " For the Hawk Vittles, what meals are good? I know that everyone has there preferences, but some meals are better rehydrated. The bacon baked beans and beef/bison stew catch my eye but I have nothing to reference to. What you said about less preservatives is appealing though. Those can ruin the taste. |
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OldFingers57 |
There are the Knorr side dishes, couscous, quinoa, rice that you can add packets of tuna or chicken to. Also mac and cheese and other pre made dinner type dishes that just require meat to be added. |
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A1t2o |
What type of meal packages do you bring and what are the good flavors? They have Mountain House at Fleet Farm near me so I was thinking 2 pouches of the beef stroganoff to supplement our other meals. I just want to make sure there isn't something better or cheaper than the $8.50 a pouch. We have all but 2 nights planned for meals. The thought is that we would have at least 1 if not 2 fish dinners, no fish means the freeze dried meal and cliff bars for those nights. I don't expect 1 pouch to feed 2 of us by itself, but I don't know if I will like it so I'd rather not plan on that as the only thing in the meal. |
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Ausable |
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johndku |
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nofish |
I usually bring a Mountain House or 2 as a "just in case" meal. You never know when you might need it. You could get wind bound on your last day leaving you stuck and in need of an extra days food. Or you may end up having one of your trip partners knock over the entire pot of fish chowder that was minutes away from being ready completely wasting the entire meal (yep thats happened). |
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jlong33 |
I realized on a trip, that I paid 9$ for Mac N Cheese. After that I decided on a few Mountain House meals and Ramen to save a few bucks. They are Cheap, minimal waste, lightweight, and go good with fish. |
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BigFlounder |
Mountain House's sweet and sour pork with rice is my absolute favorite dehydrated meal. Camp Chow is made by the good folks at Trail Center Lodge there along the Gunflint Trail (eastern BWCA). I've had some of their stuff and it's good. My all time favorite is their chicken alfredo but the secret is to toss in some Buffalo & Blue Cheese flavored Combos once the meal is cooked. Just mix a handful in with the chicken alfredo and it's like having a bite of good Italian food and a breadstick all in one. You'll have to trust me on that one. Lol! https://www.shop.trailcenterlodge.com/ One of those same backpacking friends loves the Hawk Vittles, despite getting one package that had a hair in it. Not sure I could stomach that. |
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HappyHuskies |
boonie: "Personally, I usually take stuff from Outdoor Herbivore and Hawk Vittles . +1 I also like the dehydrate meals from Hawkvittles and the Outdoor Herbivore. I also like many items from Packit Gormet and Heather's Choice. Sadly Heather's Choice currently only has two entrees available, the Chocolate Chili and the Smoked Salmon Chowder, but I like both of them. As Boonie stated, it's hard to know what someone else will like, but I've also been able to finish everything I've purchased from the above sources. Some I liked quite a lot and some I have not purchased again. For example, from Hawk Vittles I really like the Black Bean Stew, but did not care for any of the meals that use their spaghetti or tomato sauce. |
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PapaBear1975 |
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boonie |
A1t2o: "boonie: "Personally, I usually take stuff from Outdoor Herbivore and Hawk Vittles . " My two Hawk Vittles favorites are: Bacon Baked Beans! and Cashew Curry. The Beef Stew is good too. From Outdoor Herbivore I like: Blackened Quinoa, Lickety Split Lentils, and Lemony Quinoa Tabbouleh. The last has a somewhat strong distinctive flavor - I like it, but I could see where someone else might not. Most of those are very filling with over 500 calories and a good bit of fiber. I got the Smoked Salmon Chowder from Heather's Choice after Happy Huskies mentioned it in a previous thread. I also thought it was very good. |
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boonie |
PapaBear1975: "Packit Gourmet- little on the pricier end, but I've replace my traditional first night's steak dinner with Texas State Fair Chili. I very seldom use Mountain House, I like Cache Lake Foods, or Packit Gourmet. " For a different breakfast, I'll get a couple of Packit Gourmet's Jamaican Peanut Porridge. It's very tasty! Be forewarned - it's more like a smoothie in consistency than a hot cereal, especially if you add the recommended water. I just take a straw and drink it. |